My geeked-out stove setup (so far)

[hobbes105]

I been thinking about hooking up a security camera on the roof pointed at my chimney so i can monitor whats going on without having to go outside. I see Menards has an infrared set on sale for $150. Be nice to monitor the smoke output and watch for chimney fires without having to stand in the snow.

I do this. I have 3 cameras - one on the roof aimed at the chimney, one inside aimed at the stove, and one looking at my digital temp reading. I can remote view the cameras from my phone. I also have it set up to notify me if the chimney temp gets too high. It's nice to be able to check in on it when I'm not home. I feel better knowing that if the chimney temp gets too high that I'll get the notification and can bring up the live camera feed to see exactly what's going on. I also have the feeds on my TV so that I don't keep running outside when I'm home to see if there's any smoke. (I install cameras and alarm systems and do a lot of computer network installations for a living, so I'm always doing weird stuff like this - I have a camera on my tankless water heater too )

 

[BrotherBart]

Hopefully that is the cat chamber temp.

 

[BrotherBart]

I am waiting on the iToilet before I get a Smartphone. Or the iStove.

 

[mellow]

Hopefully that is the cat chamber temp.

That it is, hopefully yours won't be using that 4th digit.

 

[Treacherous]

I do this. I have 3 cameras - one on the roof aimed at the chimney, one inside aimed at the stove, and one looking at my digital temp reading. I can remote view the cameras from my phone. I also have it set up to notify me if the chimney temp gets too high. It's nice to be able to check in on it when I'm not home. I feel better knowing that if the chimney temp gets too high that I'll get the notification and can bring up the live camera feed to see exactly what's going on. I also have the feeds on my TV so that I don't keep running outside when I'm home to see if there's any smoke. (I install cameras and alarm systems and do a lot of computer network installations for a living, so I'm always doing weird stuff like this - I have a camera on my tankless water heater too )

I do the roof cam as well. It really helps for realtime adjustments.

 

[aansorge]

I load up the Blaze King, let things char for a couple of minutes, close the bypass, and check back in 12 to 36 hours. At the end of the season, I sweep the chimney. Jeez

 

[maverick06]

What camera do you guys use? I have wanted to do that with a wifi cam.

 

[hobbes105]

What camera do you guys use? I have wanted to do that with a wifi cam.

I'm using wired IP cameras. I was able to locate my roof camera next to a roof vent. This vent gave me access to my attic to run the cat5 wire back to my PoE network switch & recorder.

One thing to consider is that wireless cameras will transmit the video over your wifi, but you will still need power for the wireless camera - most likely with a plug in transformer.

Another thing to think about is snow. My camera stands off of the roof about 6 inches. Whenever we get more snow than that the camera gets buried until I shovel off the snow with a roof rake.

 

[billz]

I use one of these controllers
http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=14
(broken image removed)

if you Google egt controller you get a lot of 12v controllers

 

[mepellet]

Well, if you know the CFM of that blower and have a rough idea of the heat load of the house we could do the math.

I looked it up and it takes 0.172 BTU to heat one cubic foot of air 1F.

So lets say that blower is only as strong as a bath fan (say 120CFM) and its 32F outside and you want to get 70F inside

120 x (70-32) x 0.172 = 784 BTU/hr

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.
.
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BTU/hr = 1.08 x cfm x deltaT

So for your example
1.08 x 120cfm x (70-32)
Would be 4,925BTU/hr

See link for formula...
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/cooling-heating-equations-d_747.html

 

[Treacherous]

What camera do you guys use? I have wanted to do that with a wifi cam.

I just use a cheap Foscam in a weather protected area.

 

[Brian T]

For those who are interested (and/or don't know) I'll try to explain how a temperature controller works. Sorry if I over simplify or leave out details. A temperature controller is a lot like a thermostat in that It tries to either increase or decrease temperature based on what it thinks the temperature is. It gets the temperature feedback from a thermocouple, RTD or other temperature sensor in order to make a decision. A simple controller will have a built in relay that, when in heating control, is actuated to turn on heating elements when the furnace is too cool. When the furnace reaches the temperature you tell it you want it opens the contacts. In cooling control it actuates the relay when it thinks the femp is too hot. Most controllers have a second "alarm" relay. You set the alarm temp separate from the target temp ("process variable" or "set point" in controller speak). I.e. For my blower control I have the set point at 200 degrees and the controller in cooling control. When the stove pipe thermocouple hits 200 the controller turns on the blower to "cool" the furnace. When the stove cools off it turns off the blower and pats itself on the back for a job well done. This keeps me from blowing cold outside air into the house at 5a.m. For my light and alarm I have the SP at 900 and the alarm value at 1200. At 900 it actuates the cooling relay which turns on a light upstairs. At 1200 it actuates the alarm relay to turn on a piezo buzzer. You can also program a controller's hysteresis. I.e. if the hysteresis is 5 and the setpoint is 900, the relay is on at 900 and off at 895. This prevents rapid cycling of the load. All this for $29.95 and free shipping! Some really cheap ($20) controllers only display in celsius. I have one of those controlling an attic fan for summer and another controlling a heat lamp for the dogs in winter. Anyway, I can get into more depth about controllers, data acquisition, automation etc. if anyone has nothing better to do than read feeble attempt at a tutorial. Don't even get me started on my BBQ smoker setup

Can you tell me a bit more about the controller fan/blower set up? I heat the house with a pellet stove in the basement which often makes the basement much warmer than the rest of the house. I think I like the idea of pumping cold air from the upstairs to the basement if the temperature difference is too much.

 

[mellow]

I think I like the idea of pumping cold air from the upstairs to the basement if the temperature difference is too much.

If you are looking for an easy way to do this then cut a register hole in your floors, I stuffed roxul around the hole to create a tunnel between the floors (sprayed the roxul with 3m adhesive to keep the fibers from coming off), then install a fusible link register upstairs and install an Airflow 1000 in the ceiling downstairs. The Airflow has a built in thermostat so it will kick on and off depending on temperature downstairs.

I tried this last season and had good results with moving the cold air downstairs and letting the warm air go up the steps creating a thermal loop. The fans on high are noisy but low to medium is ok and it still does a good job of moving air. I would usually set the fan to High when we went to bed (it has a nice remote).

Links:
Register: http://www.hartandcooley.com/produc...inum-1-way-register-ms-damper-1-2-fin-spacing
Airflow 1000: (broken link removed to http://www.smarthome.com/airflow-technology-1000-0011-airflow-breeze-ultra-with-remote.html)